Apple is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Game of Thrones by launching enhanced editions of George R.R. Martin's best-selling novels, exclusively on iBooks. The Enhanced Edition will allow die-hard Game of Thrones fans to have an interactive experience, one that aims to make the notoriously complex stories a little easier to follow.
Clicking on a name in this souped-up digital version will allow readers to track that character's journey, or dig deeper into a character connections and house lineage. In addition, readers will also get an excerpt of The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth book in the series. According to The Guardian, HarperCollins said that the excerpt was briefly published on Martin's website, but now can only be found in the Enhanced Edition. From this, it seems like it might be a Theon Greyjoy chapter that was briefly available on Martin’s site in December of 2011. Fans can still access that chapter on Reddit.
In a statement, Martin called digital books "an amazing next step in the world of books." He said, "Anything that confuses you, anything you want to know more about, it's right there at your fingertips."
The release of A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Editions follows in the footsteps of the Harry Potter series. In October 2015, Apple released enhanced editions of all seven books in J.K. Rowling's best-selling series. Those iBooks featured interactive animations and annotations from Rowling.
Book One of the Enhanced Edition of Game of Thrones is available for purchase today for $8.99 in English. Books Two through Five will be released in subsequent months, and those who are eager to get their hands on it as soon as possible can make a preorder on iBooks for $11.99.